How much does a kitchen renovation cost in London?
Real UK kitchen renovation costs, where the money goes, and why London sits at the top of every range.
Published 21 May 2026 · Last updated 12 July 2026 · Written and fact-checked by Paul Whitmore, Lead Reviewer · Reviewed against our published judging process
A kitchen renovation in the UK typically costs around £5,250 at the budget end, £10,550 for a mid-range project and £28,400 for a large high-end kitchen, according to current trade cost guides. In London, expect to sit towards the top of those ranges and often beyond them, because labour and access in the capital carry a premium.
Those are national installation figures, so treat them as the floor of the conversation rather than the ceiling. Here is where the money actually goes, and where London quietly adds to the bill.
Where the money goes in a kitchen renovation
The units are usually the biggest single line, running from about £1,500 at the budget end to £10,000 or more for high-end cabinetry. Worktops span everything from a £200 laminate run to £1,100 and up for quartz or granite. Appliances add anywhere from £450 to over £5,000 depending on your taste in ovens.
Then comes the work itself. Installation typically lands between £2,200 and £4,600, with plumbing, electrics and flooring adding several hundred to a couple of thousand more. A kitchen fitter's day rate averages around £240, and a full fit is rarely a two-day job.
Why London costs more
Everything about working in London adds friction. Parking permits, congestion charging, restricted delivery windows, flats with no lift and terraces with no side access all add hours, and hours are money. Skilled trades are also in heavier demand in the capital, which pushes day rates above the national average.
The honest rule of thumb I give people: take the national mid-range figure and add a healthy margin for London before you even start choosing taps. If a quote comes in suspiciously below that, something has been left out, and you will meet it again later as an extra.
From the tools: The best value kitchen jobs I see are never the cheapest quotes. They are the ones where the client spent properly on the boring bits, the prep, the first fix, the flattening of a wonky floor, and saved on the glamour bits like handles and splashbacks that are easy to upgrade later. You can change a handle in a minute. You cannot re-level a floor with a fitted kitchen sat on it.
How to keep the budget honest
Get at least three itemised quotes and make every line visible: units, worktops, appliances, labour, first fix, making good. Hold back a contingency of around ten to fifteen percent, because a kitchen strip-out always finds something, usually behind the sink. And fix your specification before work starts, since mid-job changes are the most expensive decisions you will ever make.
Renovating more than just the kitchen? See how the timings stack across a whole property in our guide to how long a full home renovation takes. And you can see how we think about celebrating the firms that do this work properly over on the awards and categories page.
Paul has spent more than twenty years around the trades and writes practical guides for The UK Trades Awards.
Paul Whitmore, Lead Reviewer. Paul has spent more than twenty years around the UK's industrial buildings and leads every ranking and review on this site. Read his full profile.